Authors Notes: Joe is majoring in pre-law right now; he's not actually in law school yet. Vanessa Bender was the character that appeared in the later Hardy Boys Casefiles as a new girlfriend for Joe after Iola was killed in the first book of the series. Iola was killed by a car bomb meant for Joe and Frank.

Other than that, well, all I can say is there will be a lot of relationship stuff in this story. I think I prefer that as well. I may not, however, always dive inside of a character's head every chapter but I'll do it when it makes the most sense to me. Thanks again!

Chapter Three

Joe stared at the packet sitting on the passenger seat as he drove back through the small, windy, street back to the main road that would eventually lead him back to his apartment.

Why do I need to go see Nancy? he wondered. What does she have to do with all of this? Has she been holding out on me? That's as likely as the sun turning purple and rising in the west. Nancy wouldn't keep something involving Frank from me, I'm sure of that.

It looked innocuous, this packet of papers. He'd seen many like them during the years he investigated cases with Frank and most of the time they never threatened him personally. This one, however, threatened him in more ways than one. It threatened to bring out the demons he felt inside, the ones that came out when he missed Frank too much, and the ones that were, for the most part, buried.

I can't do this, Joe thought as he looked at the packet. I can't unearth everything I've buried. I can't. I've buried Frank once. I've finally started to let go of looking for him a thousand times a day, or asking him a question that he obviously can't answer because he's not here anymore. I don't want to keep reopening old wounds.

Despite it all, though, Joe knew he would open the can of worms if it meant finding out the truth about his brother's death. Joe wondered again who the man was; he hadn't seen the other man's face, at all. The man had kept to the shadows, his face shielded by the lack of lighting on the backside of the wharf.

Joe pulled back into his parking space near his apartment building and sat in his car, leaning back and closing his eyes. He needed the energy the respite gave him, energy to get him out of the car and inside, looking through whatever was inside of the envelope. He glanced at his watch; the lighted dial said 11:30 P.M. He thought it would be much later than that, it felt like years had passed since he'd left home.

Leaning forward and propping his head on his steering wheel, Joe reached into the passenger seat and pulled the envelope toward him, holding it for a moment before sliding the clasp open and pulling out the items within the envelope.

Go inside to do this, Hardy, Joe thought to himself.

I don't want this inside the house, he answered a moment later, and then hit himself on the head. Quit answering your own stupid thoughts, Hardy. You're really cracking up here!

Joe sighed and turned on his dome light and gazed at the three items. The first was an old, faded, newspaper clipping from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, announcing the wedding of a man named James Fleming to a young woman named Diana Patrelli. The picture was not very good; the faces of the man and woman were blotted out, maybe from having gotten wet before.

The second item was a picture of a small villa; Joe wasn't sure of the style, whether it was Italian or Greek or whatever, but it looked like what he thought of as a villa; a bungalow inside of a gated fence. He didn't know enough about architecture to know what style of villa it was, though. Maybe Nancy would know that.

The third item was a teardrop shaped amethyst on single, silver chain. Joe let the chain slide through his fingers until he caught the stone in his hand and held it, gazing at it.

I have no idea what all this means; I guess that's what I'm meant to find out, but what does Nancy have to do with this? Joe sighed and peered closely at the chain again. No markings, nothing to identify the piece, at least not to me. Maybe it means something to Nancy. And who are these people? James Fleming and Diana Patrelli? That makes no sense to me.

Joe shook his head and looked over the news clipping again. He finally shut off the light in his car and put everything back in the envelope, before going back up to his apartment. He sat the packet of papers onto the dining room table and went into his bedroom.

"What do you think of Nancy Drew, Joe?"

Joe glanced over at his brother to find Frank staring out the window of their house in Bayport at the woman who stood on the front lawn with Joe's girlfriend, Vanessa and Frank's girlfriend Callie, laughing about something.

Joe peered cautiously at his brother and frowned, wondering just what had gotten into his normally levelheaded brother. The older Hardy boy normally kept his feet firmly planted on the ground but the expression on his face, if Callie could see it, would get his face smacked but hard.

"She's nice enough," Joe said. "Smart. The only girl I'd trust on a case. She may be smarter than you, bro, what do you think of that?"

Joe grinned when his brother's expression left the window to look at Joe. Joe stuck his tongue out at Frank and turned his expression back to the window, watching Vanessa.

"She's really nice," Frank said. "And, you're right. She's really smart. I keep thinking if I weren't dating Callie, you know... it might be fun to get together with Nancy – if she weren't dating Ned."

"But she is and you are so the point's moot, right?" Joe asked. He remembered entirely too many days when Frank derided him about his 'flavor of the week' and it amused Joe to see Frank in the same position.

"Yeah," Frank said, wistfully. "It's fun to think about though."

Joe nodded. "And dangerous, too. You forget, your girlfriend has a temper."

"I suppose," Frank agreed. "I also suppose I'd better be careful, huh? No, you know I won't cheat on Callie but..."

Frank sighed. Joe wondered what the 'but' was. Was Frank really thinking about trying to get together with Nancy? Joe didn't think it possible, that his brother would lose his devotion to Callie Shaw, thorn in Joe's side.

Then again, people change, as they get older, Joe thought. I suppose it's possible for Frank to change too. It's just scary to see first hand!

Joe laughed and chucked his brother under the chin, then went back to watching the girls on the front lawn. He swallowed nervously when Vanessa looked right at him, winked and beckoned to him with an upturned finger.

"Er, see you later, dude," Joe said as he got out of his chair. "Beauty calls."

Frank made a clucking sound as Joe went through the door.

Joe woke up, blinking, the memory still fresh in his mind and glanced at his bedside clock, noting that it was almost 5 am and wondering why he had dreamed that particular scene from his life. He remembered that day vividly; the Hardys and Nancy had just come off of an arduous case, looking for a kidnapped child, and Nancy was spending a few days with the Hardys before going home to her family.

Joe sighed as he got up and padded into the kitchen, putting on a pot of coffee before going into the bathroom to take his morning shower. He came out a few minutes later, towel-drying his hair and crossing back into the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee before sitting down at the table to drink the coffee.

The packet sat there, daring him to do something about it. Joe glowered at the packet and turned away, getting up to get his newspaper from in front of the door and going into the living room to read it and drink his coffee. He didn't need to deal with mysteries at five am, especially when he was no longer a detective.

Sports section, Joe decided with glee as he pulled the paper open and found his favorite section. Time to learn about something totally painless, unless, of course, the Comets got destroyed again last night.

Joe spent an hour pouring over the paper, reading the sports section, the comics, some of the news section and even some of the arts and entertainment section, though he really only skimmed that last section. Most of it talked about stuff he had no interest in at all, but it was nice to see what movies were out and maybe check on a play or two to bring Vanessa to see.

Joe spent another hour getting his apartment picked up and picking out clothes for the day. He technically had classes to go to that day but, until he talked to Nancy about going to see her, or Nancy coming to see him, he didn't want to deal with his classes. He had a perfect attendance record so far; he doubted that his teachers would panic if he didn't show up once.

Especially when my classmates skip classes all the time, he thought. And I can do without my early morning "Criminal Psychology" class, this morning. Doctor Donham has the worst monotone voice; I'm surprised I'm ever able to stay awake!

Joe sighed with satisfaction as he took out his reading assignments for the day and poured over them again, wanting to make sure the information was fresh in his mind since he wasn't going to go to class. He knew people he could get notes from; he'd call them later and see about copying them.

"Ok, Hardy, time to get going," he said out loud. "Go call Nancy. Sure it's an hour earlier where she lives but she'll live."

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the still familiar number, letting the phone ring until Hannah Gruen, the Drew's housekeeper, picked it up on the other end of the line.

"Hannah, this is Joe Hardy," Joe said into the phone. "May I please speak to Nancy? Is she home?"

"She was home a few minutes ago, Joe," Hannah said. "I'm afraid I just heard her pull out. Is there something I can do for you?"

Joe considered for a moment. "I need to come out there and talk to her about something. Is she going to be in town for the weekend? I can be there this evening."

"I think so, Joe," Hannah said. "But Joe, you should know something."

"What's that?" Joe wondered if he was doing something wrong by calling; Hannah sounded awfully nervous.

"Nancy isn't taking cases right now. If you need to work with her on something, well, I'm afraid she won't do it."

Joe's eyes widened with shock.

"She's not taking cases? But why?"

Hannah sighed and Joe settled back into a chair; he just knew this was going to be a long story.

"Ned left her," Hannah said. "They were working on their wedding plans, actually had the day set and had just about everything organized. Nancy ordered everything she needed; her dress, invitations, bridesmaids' dresses and the like, then she got called away for a case. She went to go take care of it but while she was gone, Ned left. He said that cases were always going to come between them and that she loved being a detective more than she loved him.

"She was back in plenty of time for the wedding but Ned didn't seem to care. He left. Nancy was... she was devastated."

Joe felt devastated for his friend. Nancy was a great girl; if he wasn't already committed, he might see himself falling for her – if his brother hadn't been so attracted to her.

I wonder what went through Ned's head. Is he that much of an idiot?

"Anyway, Nancy is taking a break from it all," Hannah explained. "She said she's not going to stop being a detective permanently but she needs a break from it. So far, she's been taking that break for six months and nobody has been able to entice her to take a case. I wanted you to be aware of that before you come here."

Joe sighed. He'd stopped being a detective because he lost Frank, Nancy stopped because she lost Ned.

Ned's a first-class idiot is what Ned is, Joe glumly thought. If he didn't realize what he had when he had Nancy, he doesn't deserve her. I hope Nancy realizes that.

"I just need to show her a couple of things and talk to her about them," Joe said. "She doesn't have to take a case of any kind, just give me some advice. Think she'll be up to that?"

"I think so," Hannah sounded relieved. "I'll be sure to let her know that you're coming. You're more than welcome to spend the night here if you need to, don't worry about a hotel."

Joe sighed with relief and smiled as he relaxed again. "Thank you, Hannah, I really appreciate that. I'll call you when I get to the airport in River Heights so you know I'm on the way to your house. Tell Nancy and Mr. Drew I said hi and I'll see them later."

"I will, Joe," Hannah said. "Good-bye."

"Good-bye."

Joe hung up and sat the phone back down on his dining room table, thinking.

I can't believe Ned left Nancy. What is the world coming to these days? He knew what her life's calling was, knew what she wanted to be her whole life. If he's done this to her, I'm going to find him and slug him!

But until then, he thought. I have my own task to accomplish. Time to go to River Heights.